The Man the Grim Reaper Hates
by wolfsrainrules
Summary: "It has been years since I have seen some of you and I have heard the rumors. The rumors the Grim Reaper had greeted the Great Skull. I am here tonight…to tell you- to show you- that I am the man the Grim Reaper Hates! I am the Immortal Skull!" (Or the Arcobaleno go see Skull's Stunt Show without telling him and have a few years shaved off. Takes place BEFORE Slip Up. No spoilers)
**Niyuu. Darling. The steampunk!Tsuna fan art of yours (found on Tumblr under Trickster Kat- Art All the Things- for those who want to see it) is cute. And it took me a while to choose the one I was going to write first.**

 **I don't own HP or KHR. (They own me. Apparently.)**

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This was not their normal sort of haunt.

They were actually pretty uncomfortable to be honest. The people here were civilian to start with, they were from all walks of life secondly.

(Seriously. There were all sorts in the stands they were sitting in from homeless brats to people who were born to money.)

And all these people were screaming and excited and chatting back and forth at a mile a minute to anyone within speaking distance with no regards to the class or money of the others.

It was…eerie almost.

In these stands it was as if labels were stripped away and all that was left…were _people_.

Large, small, young, old, female, male, rich or poor….none of it mattered in the face of these people's excitement.

The Arcobaleno were out of their element and they _knew it_.

It was even more mind-blowing for them when they considered all of these feelings, this excitement was on behalf of their youngest- on behalf of their Cloud.

The Curse had been broken (and they _all_ owed Tsunayoshi Sawada much for his hand in that) and they all stood in their adult forms for the first time in _**years**_. Skull had been ecstatic about it babbling about how he'd be able to go back to his stunts for his fans.

It would be the first Stunt Show of 'Immortal Skull' in a very long time and Skull was excited about it.

The Arcobaleno had all rolled their eyes of course, some had scoffed, others had shunned his excitement about 'petty stunts.' Skull had straightened, his eyes flashing and a sneer pulling at his lips as he countered 'I am _Immortal Skull_. I don't _do_ petty _stunts_. Stuntmen _wish_ they were me. They reach for the stunts I do and they fall short. But you wouldn't know that. _I was just a civilian in the way_ after all.'

They hadn't scoffed at him again. It was the first hint of the Cloud Skull actually was. They could all see that pressing on that matter would trigger a very Cloudy Rage and no one had wanted to deal with it.

(Yuni frantically shaking her head 'no' in the background may have also contributed)

In the end though they had all been curious. Skull was right after all. They had treated him as a Lackey and scoffed at the (to quote Reborn on one of their jobs before the Fated Day) 'stupid civilian in the way playing at big bad.'

They were curious to see Skull in _his_ Element.

What was their Cloud like in the environment and surroundings where he was _unquestioningly_ at the very top? One of- if not _the_ \- best?

Looking around at the crowds in the stadium the Arcobaleno were finally beginning to _see_.

Skull de Mort was _loved_ for what he did. Loved so entirely that labels and the social distance _disappeared_.

The rich sat with the homeless and excitedly talked about Skull, gestures and laugher shared. Money was an afterthought. Castes didn't seem to exist in the stadium.

The Arcobaleno would later discover that Skull went around the Cities where he performed and would gather the men, women and children he could find that had no home and roamed the streets and _he_ brought them into the Stadium. They would later find out about how after the show Skull would take them and help where he could- shoes, clothes, blankets, food…he would provide what he could. They would later find out about the Charities and Fundraisers that Skull's shows funded. They would later discover the donations from the rich, and the prizes Skull offered to the big spenders- rides on his motorcycle, autographs, VIP tickets, things of that nature.

They would later watch Skull walk among the crowds and laugh and chat with them. They would watch Skull stop for every child that asked in the crowd and crouch down on their level to talk, as he signed whatever they waved in his direction (Arms, teddies, shirts, books, paper- whatever).

They would see a relaxed and happy Skull de Mort and realize exactly how _rare_ that was in their presence.

But that was later.

At the moment they were sitting in the stands of Skull's latest show the Cloud unaware they had come to see what all the fuss was about watching the crowds with disbelief.

Some of the past stunts the crowd was excitedly sharing were _impossible_ and yet…supposedly it had happened.

"First time, huh?"

Eyes turned to see bright blue amusedly watching them. "What makes you say that?" Reborn purred at the black haired woman.

She laughed and grinned at him "It's written all over your faces. You look around like you've never seen a group of people just be… _people_." She gestured to the crowds. "You're seeing a space free of snap judgements and expectations and it's weird for you. Skull's Stunt Shows have always been this way. He doesn't allow prejudice in the stands- if you partake in it you are _escorted_ out. Everyone who comes here _knows_ that rule."

The woman scanned the stadium "It's Skull's Golden Rule. Respect Given is Respect Returned. If something is done that shows _disrespect_ or bias, if someone starts something over what someone else is or has…they are banned from returning."

She shrugged. "Everyone here that's been to another, or listened to the stories of those that have been-" she nodded at some of the older people in the crowds "learned his Golden Rule long ago. It's why everyone is treated like equals here no matter where they came from or their level of wealth. Skull brings people together. He always has. Here…we are just fans and observers and _people_. It shows."

She glanced around the stadium "You can always tell who's new to one of these shows by the disbelief they observe things like that" here the woman gestured at an obviously wealthy young woman excitedly chatting with an obviously homeless man about her age and be chatted back at "like it's the weirdest thing they've ever seen."

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" a loud excited voice echoed over the stadium, silencing the loud upbeat rock music that had been playing in the background and instantly bringing silence to the crowds as they all turned to face the 'stage'. "I am proud to tell you the moment we have _all_ been waiting for is finally approaching!"

Here he had to stop for the screaming fans.

"I know, I know! Some of us have been waiting years to see this again!" (Older members of the crowd roared in agreement) "Others are seeing this for the first time" (Younger members of the audience, friends or family of those who dragged them along screamed a greeting) "well I have to tell the new faces here that they are in for one _hell_ of a treat- to all the little ones in the audience I apologize for the language but some things need to be cursed about." (There were various laughs and yells of agreement.)

"There's some last minute things being set up behind me, so we've still got a few minutes before the curtain falls, but I figure we could all have a moment to remember- or be introduced to- the Legend we're all here to see! The man the Grim Reaper Hates! The crazy son of a bitch that just keeps on getting crazier! THE IMMORTAL SKULL DE MORT!"

The crowd _roared_.

A large projection showed up on the curtain that had been set up behind the man and all eyes lifted to see it.

It was a montage of some of Skull's greatest moments.

The Arcobaleno watched with wide eyes, a few of the stunts shaving a couple years off their lifespans as they witnessed their Cloud do things that should have killed him only for him to walk (or ride) out of fire and smoke and _insanity_ completely whole and a sharp devil-may-care grin turned to the camera.

By the time Skull actually rides out onto the stage most of the Arcobaleno are moments away from marching down to him and dragging him out of the stadium so he doesn't do whatever it is he's about to do.

(Because they know Skull. He's a _showman_ and this is the first show he'd done for _years_. He would want to outdo _every single one_ of the montage of stunts they had just seen and they weren't sure they wanted to _actually witness_ whatever it was their Cloud had planned.)

(They were also now excruciatingly aware of the fact that everything they had ever seen their Cloud do was _nowhere near_ his limits, and they had been driving with the Cloud when Yuni was in danger.)

(That incident had actually earned Skull some respect and admiration for his driving skills from _all_ of the Arcobaleno. They _still_ weren't sure _**how**_ he had gotten the old hunk of junk car they had all been forced to pile into to escape a meeting gone wrong to _**do**_ what he had made it _do_.)

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Skull's voice was loud, but smooth and commanding as he called out to the crowds after a death-defying entrance (God he hadn't _even started yet_ and that entrance had _still_ shaved a few more years off.) "It has been years since I have seen some of you and I have heard the rumors. The rumors the Grim Reaper had greeted the Great Skull. I am here tonight…to tell you- to _**show**_ you- that I am the man the Grim Reaper Hates! I am the Immortal Skull!"

The crowd roars.

The Arcobaleno hold their breath.

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 **I don't want to make Skull's stunts not badass enough so I'll leave them up to your minds. Just imagine the most crazy thing you have ever seen anyone do- the sort of thing that should have killed them- and then add in the KHR level of craziness and tendency to get 10x worse than planned for and you're somewhere in the ballpark of where I was aiming.**

 **I loved the idea of Skull just** _ **completely blowing their minds**_. **Like.**

 **THAT IS SKULL?**

 **WHERES OUR USELESS BABY CLOUD?  
WHO IS THIS BAMF? **

**And just NONE of the Arcobaleno knowing what to do with this Skull who is utterly comfortable defying death, confident and strong and smooth. (Like Reborn with a gun, Verde solving the unsolvable, Fon flowing through a fight, Viper getting money from someone…well you get the idea.)**


End file.
